Best New Building Plan (2001)

The Denver Art Museum's new wing

Construction of a wildly fanciful wing for the Denver Art Museum, designed by architectural superstar Daniel Libeskind, is about to get under way just south of the museum. Although its unconventional structure has been likened to a plane crash, this wing will surely be one of the best buildings in town. Almost as remarkable as the Libeskind design is that DAM director Lewis Sharp was savvy enough to have guided the commissioning process, allowing overlapping committees to have their say but also making sure that the existing Gio Ponti museum building was protected.